Lafayette Federal Credit Union, headquartered in Rockville, Maryland is a regional credit union that was founded in 1935 and now serves roughly 56,300 members and $1.8 billion in assets.
Although they only have branch locations in the greater Washington D.C. area, consumers nationwide can take advantage of their competitive CD (certificate of deposit) rates as well as their variable rate deposit accounts including their savings account, money market account and Relationship Checking account.
All deposits held at Lafayette Federal Credit Union are federally insured by the NCUA (FDIC equivalent for credit unions) up to $250,000 per depositor.
To see if their CD rates and deposit accounts are right for you, continue reading our review below.
Lafayette Federal Credit Union CD Rates + Account Details
Lafayette Federal Credit Union has 3 types of CD available to consumers. These are:
- Standard CDs – $500 minimum deposit requirement.
- Jumbo CDs – $100,000 minimum deposit requirement and slightly higher rates.
- Variable Rate CDs – $50 minimum deposit requirement with rates that can change at any time without notice.
Both the standard CDs and the Variable Rate CDs are available as IRA’s (Traditional, Roth, or SEP), however the jumbo CDs are not available as IRA CDs at this time.
IRA CDs currently come with the same APYs (annual percentage yield) as the standalone CDs.
CD Rates (standard, fixed rate)
| CD Term | Minimum Deposit | APY |
| 7 month | $500 | 4.42% |
| 1 year | $500 | 4.99% |
| 2 year | $500 | 4.89% |
| 3 year | $500 | 4.84% |
| 4 year | $500 | 4.73% |
| 5 year | $500 | 4.68% |
To put the offers above in perspective, the current national average for a 1 year CD and a 5 year CD sit at just 1.54% APY and 1.37% APY, respectively, according to FDIC data. However, top yields from online banks are inching over the 5.00% and 4.60% APY mark for the same respective terms.
Below are Lafayette Federal Credit Union’s Jumbo CD rates. These products require a minimum deposit of $100,000.
Jumbo CD Rates (fixed rate)
| CD Term | Minimum Deposit | APY |
| 1 year | $100k | 5.15% |
| 2 year | $100k | 5.04% |
| 3 year | $100k | 4.99% |
| 4 year | $100k | 4.99% |
| 5 year | $100k | 4.84% |
Lafayette Federal Credit Union also has a handful of variable rate CDs. You can read more about the differences between fixed and variable rate CDs below.
CD Rates (variable rate)
| CD Term | Minimum Deposit | APY |
| 18 month | $50 | 3.29% |
| 3 year | $50 | 3.75% |
| 5 year | $50 | 4.06% |
There are a few differences between these two certificate types besides the rates.
One is that the variable-rate CDs require a minimum opening deposit of $50 and the fixed-rate CDs require a minimum opening deposit of $500.
Another is that you can deposit more money into a variable-rate account at any time prior to maturity. This cannot be done with the fixed rate CDs.
The most notable difference though is in the name(s) – “variable” and “fixed.” With a fixed CD you are getting locked into an interest rate until maturity. With a variable rate CD, your APY can change at any time and tends to follow the overall interest rate environment – much like a money market account or online savings account.
In general, variable-rate CDs are going to be better when you expect interest rates to rise and fixed-rate CDs are going to be best when rates have hit their peak and may even begin to decline soon.
Savings Accounts and Money Market
Lafayette Federal Credit Union has a handful of savings accounts in its product suite. These are:
- A Share savings account, your ticket to membership with Lafayette;
- An IRA savings account,
- A Preferred savings account; and
- A Premier savings account.
The Share savings is going to pay you the least amount in interest but will be the easiest to maintain, and a Premier savings account will pay the most in interest but will require a high deposit and minimum balance to maintain.
Savings Account Rates
| Account | Minimum Balance | APY | |
| Share Savings Account | $50 | 0.10% | |
| IRA Savings Account | $50 | 3.34% | |
| Preferred Savings Account | $0 – $19,999.99 | 3.34% | |
| $20,000 + | 3.80% | ||
| Premier Savings Account | 1st $50k | 3.80% | |
| 2nd $50k | 3.91% | ||
| Next $150k | 4.01% | ||
| Next $250k + | 4.52% |
To give the offers above more context, the current national average for a savings account sits at just 0.39% APY. And the current national average for a money market account doesn’t fare much better at 0.57% APY.
Dividends are compounded quarterly and paid quarterly on all savings accounts.
Money Market Rates
| Balance | APY |
| $0 – $2,499 | 0.00% |
| $2,500 – $24,999 | 0.05% |
| $25k – $149,999 | 0.15% |
| $150,000 + | 0.30% |
These money market accounts require a minimum opening deposit of $2,500 and they can be opened in-person or online.
How to Avoid Fees on the Savings Accounts and Money Market Accounts
Remember your Share Saving account, while it doesn’t yield much, is your key to membership. So be sure to keep at least $50 in the account. Failure to maintain this balance will result in a $10 monthly charge.
Excessive withdrawals over the federally enforced limit of 6 per statement cycle cost $10 each for Preferred savings accounts, $20 each for money market accounts, and $100 each for Premier savings accounts.
High Yield Checking
If you open Lafayette’s High Yield Checking account you can earn an APY of 2.02%.
This used to be LFCU’s most competitive deposit account back before the Fed started hiking rates in 2022, however, the rate hasn’t kept up with the overall interest rate landscape.
On top of that, the rate is conditional and only applies to balances up to $25,000. Balances above $25k will only earn an APY of 0.025%.
And to earn 2.02% APY on up to $25,000, you will need to set up a monthly direct deposit of at least $500 into the account.
About Lafayette Federal Credit Union + Eligibility
Anyone in the country can apply and join LFCU to start taking advantage of some of their competitive deposit accounts.
The easiest way to join is if you already have family members who are also members of LFCU. The second easiest way is if you live within their regional footprint and can stop by a local branch.
If you’re outside of the D.C. area, you can still join by joining LFCU’s partner organization, the Home Ownership Financial Literacy Council (HOFLC). Membership costs just $10.
Remember, to maintain your membership you will also need to keep at least $50 in a share savings account.
Branches and ATMs
Lafayette Federal participates in co-op shared branching with over 6,000 branches and thousands of surcharge-free ATMs across the country. There are only 8 Lafayette Federal Credit Union branches, and these are located in:
- Crystal City, Virginia
- McLean, Virginia
- Kensington, Maryland
- Potomac, Maryland
- Rockville, Maryland
- Washington, D.C.
Most accounts can be opened and managed online, and Lafayette Federal Credit Union has an app for both Apple and Android devices to make banking more convenient whether you live near a branch location or not.
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